How Far We've Come
by Peachuzoid
Summary: Two thoughts came to him then: 1) he told them to forget it, and 2) they were going to get him killed. (Post To'hajiilee.)


**A/N:** Picks up where To'hajiilee (5x13) left off. Not sure what to do with this?

* * *

Bullets were flying overhead, mere inches from his body as he all but threw himself between the seats for cover, losing his glasses in the process. Two thoughts came to him then: 1) he told them to forget it, and 2) they were going to get him killed—and what was the good in that if they needed him to learn the proper cook?

Jesse. Jesse could show them. Jesse was just as good as him.

No… No, he wouldn't do it.

That's when it dawned on him. Hank and Gomez. It was silent again. Eerily silent. Walt sat up the best he could under the circumstances and immediately noticed the dust and smoke clouding the air. The firefight was over, and Jack was… Jack wasn't standing by Todd and the other men.

"No—no no no—" a familiar voice broke the silence of the desert alerting Walt's attention, like his senses were slowly returning. He turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of Jack standing by the passenger side of his car, gun in hand. "Leave me the hell alone! Let me go!"

Walt could vaguely make out Jesse's struggling but watched on in horror as Jack shoved him to the ground. He almost didn't recognize his own voice as he choked out "stop" and a bunch of pleas and strangled cries he didn't quite comprehend himself.

"Don't kill him! Jack!" Walt tried to reach the door handle, twisting about uncomfortably and ultimately failing. But Jack lowered the gun and glanced back at him.

The next thing Walt knew was that the door opened and he slipped out from the backseat, courtesy of Todd. He had already retrieved the keys to the cuffs and unfastened them as soon as his feet reached the ground.

"You alright, Mr. White?" Todd was staring at him. The metal cuffs were dangling in his hands, the glare from the sun reflecting brightly upon them as though this should be a victory.

He slowly nodded his head in response. He wasn't sure if it was the shock of it all or just his god forsaken brain that couldn't put it together. The truth of what had occurred in order for Todd to have even gotten those keys…

Walt caught the slightest glimpse of Hank, the condition he was in. He saw red and found himself gagging, turning away as fast as possible as the tears burned his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to look over at Steve Gomez. Though he had witnessed worse—_committed_ worse—this was different. So very different. Hank was family, and he had already made the commitment to go with him.

Walt raised a hand in a coaxing manner. "Don't kill Jesse. Just, _please_, Jack. Don't kill him."

Jack straightened up and looked Walt over from where he stood, towering over Jesse. "That's funny. I thought the order was to kill a Jesse…" His lips split into some malicious grin before spitting off to the side. "Pinkman, was it?"

"I know what I said." Walt could feel the blood rush to his face. He just barely made eye contact with Jesse as the younger man got back on his feet cautiously. Jack gripped him by the back of his hoodie, the movement startling both Walt and Jesse. "Just… Just not like this."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Jack gave Jesse a bit of a shake. "What was it… 'fast, painless'. And 'no suffering, no fear'. Let's be real, Walter. You really think that's going to work now?"

Walt tried not to meet the hurt look on Jesse's face. Jack was right. There was a change of plans. Jesse may have ratted him out but now Jesse was the only person he had left. Jack took Hank from him, took his _family_ from him. Marie and Skyler would never forgive him for this. But Jesse was family. And he was still alive. He had to keep it that way.

He stared Jack dead in the eyes. "I'll do it myself."

* * *

Jesse had caught the look on Walt's face. The look that screamed _Heisenburg_. He was dead serious. He must have been too scared to come after him himself, having called Todd's uncle to finish the job. Walt had put a hit out on him. And now that his brother-in-law was lying face down in the desert, there was no way Jesse was going to make it out of this alive—even with a couple of men down. He didn't possessive any sort of weapon.

He was alone.

Jesse was jerked backward again by the asshole that had a hold of him by his hood. He felt the tip of the gun at the back of his head, the cool metal pressed to his skull.

"I can do fast and painless. One bullet is all it takes. Not typically my style, but I guess I could make an exception."

"No." Walt's voice was stern. No hesitation. "I do it myself or I'm not cooking for you."

"Mr. White…" The name escaped Jesse's mouth without a second thought, his eyes locked onto the man. He was one trigger pull away from death and here he was, practically ready to beg for his life all over again.

"Move." The gun was jammed harder against his head, causing him to take a couple steps forward and raise his arms up at his sides. "Get in the truck."

"My car. Put him in my car," Walt spoke up. Jesse froze as he continued, "I'll drive. Just him and me. You can follow us. It's the only way I'm ensured you won't kill him."

There was an exaggerated sigh and Jesse was shoved back toward Walt's car. He didn't break his stare though. Instead, he hardened his glare to meet Walt's, pushing aside any fear he felt.

Jesse kept his mouth shut as he was forced back into the passenger seat, Jack slamming the door once he was in. He trained his glare onto the dashboard ahead of him. He still didn't have anything to use in defense. The gun Walt had was discarded over by the rock his brother-in-law had spotted him hiding behind.

At least that meant they were equally disarmed.

After a couple minutes of muted conversation from outside, the driver's side door opened and Walt had slid into the seat. Jesse shut his eyes, turning his head toward the window, and grit his teeth. There were a few _ding ding dings_ from Walt sticking the key in the ignition before shutting the door and starting the engine up. Other than that, it was pure silence.

The silence remained until Walt had his car lined up behind one of the trucks, the other following behind them. Sandwiched between the two. Trapped with no way out.

"So, like… what? You off me and now that your DEA brother-in-law is six feet under, you're just gonna get away with it again?"

"Have you not learned _anything_?" Walt hissed.

Jesse rolled his jaw. "I know you wanted me dead. But I'm guessing this wasn't how you had it planned."

"You threatened to come after my family. I did this as a precaution." Walt kept his stare ahead. "_You're_ the one who got Hank involved in all this. You ratted. He is _dead_ because of you. Do you understand that? _Dead_!"

"No, yeah, I got that. It's always my fault. But I didn't rat you out, okay? I didn't have a choice."

"Oh, you _didn't have a choice_."

"Yeah, alright?" Jesse propped his elbow on the doorframe. "He followed me from Saul's place. Caught me at your house. What was I supposed to do?"

"I can tell you what you _weren't_ supposed to do," Walt fumed.

Jesse straightened up in the seat. "Yo, why am I even _talking_ to you? You don't give a shit about me. Why didn't you just let that whack job back there do his thing and put a bullet in my head?"

"Jesus, Jesse…" Walt rubbed at his temple. "I'm getting us out of this. I haven't got a plan yet but I'm working on it."

"Us?" Jesse repeated.

"Yes, _us._ Had you of just come and talked to me when I told you to, we wouldn't be here right now. All I wanted to do was explain myself to you." Walt managed to glance over at him briefly before returning to the dirt road. "Look how far we've come, Jesse. We're getting out of this one way or another. Either we both make it out alive or we're both dead."

Jesse tried to cover up the shiver that ran down his spine in that moment. Walt's words reminded him of what Mike had said to him back in Mexico. Back when they were facing the cartel. They had made it out then, and that was a whole damn cartel. Of course Mike and Gus were long gone now, thanks to the man sitting beside him, but the thought provided him with hope. They could surely take out a few guys.

Walt wasn't going to kill him. Maybe he was at one point but he wasn't anymore. Like he had said, he was getting them out of there. He just had to have a little faith in the man.

"Just like old times," Jesse muttered.


End file.
